Opinion

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Der Rathskeller's Jukebox dies, and with it, a piece of us all

Middle East still far from lasting peace

It is all but impossible to conceive of a Middle East bereft of violence and bloodshed.  The Arab Spring, which has stormed through Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, has now claimed over 60,000 Syrian lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians in an increasingly gory Syrian Civil War.  Supposedly, removing Bashar al-Assad, the ruthless Syrian dictator, from his authoritative post is the highest priority of the U.S. State Department, as quotidian remarks of the necessity of his departure by outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are ubiquitous in newspaper headlines.  However, as we approach the two-year anniversary of Syria’s struggle to emancipate itself from Assad, all predictions as to when the war may conclude are dubitable.

Obama's drone program dangerous for Americans

An impending investigation pertaining to the legality of drone strikes by Ben Emmerson, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, offers a vital opportunity to reflect upon the morality and efficacy of a technology that has become a hallmark of President Barack Obama's foreign policy. The expansion and entrenchment of this capability as a central component of U.S. military power under Obama's tenure has received far too little discussion, especially in light of disturbing findings regarding the extent of civilian casualties and psychological trauma resulting from this targeted killing program.

Mayor Soglin weighs in on homelessness

The Daily Cardinal’s Editorial Board met with Mayor Paul Soglin last week for over an hour. The Mayor opened with an informal statement of his priorities and how Madison has changed in the past 20 years. He continued to answer our questions about several of the topics you see below.  Here are some of our thoughts on the areas of the city that Soglin commented on regarding the issue of homelessness.

Legal status needs to be more accessible

The Senate and President Barack Obama recently released separate, but fairly similar, outlines for immigration reform. Since immigration policy has been a dismal failure for multiple decades, it is an exciting prospect to see the federal government “fix the system.” Unfortunately, neither the Senate’s Gang of Eight proposal nor President Obama’s proposal will do anyone much good in the long run.

Defining life and when it begins underlies abortion debate

Greetings, fellow Badgers. My name is Tom Jensen and I am a senior majoring in Religious Studies. As such, this column will focus on religious topics and hopefully shed some light on why certain religious groups do and think as they do. If you have a topic you would like me to cover, or if you feel I misrepresented a certain group, please feel free to contact me. Additionally, if you disagree with anything I say, let’s get a good old-fashioned newspaper debate going. Write a letter to the editor. Call me out. It will be way more exciting than watching “The Office” on Netflix, so I guarantee a response.

Super Bowl XLVII super disappointing

First, let’s get this straight. I’m a huge football fan. Super Bowl Sunday is one of my favorite days out of the year. Football. Wings. Drinking. The only thing that would make it better would be if my favorite team had actually made the big game. Sadly, though, they did not. And so, for the 18th time in my life, I sat through a game that has absolutely no bearing on my fandom. Only this time, I took notes. On everything but the game.

Gun control loophole poses potential threat to arm criminals

We’re a nation of 315 million constitutional law scholars.  Most Americans avoid the legalese of their credit card contracts like the plague.  But the Constitution and specifically the Second Amendment? No problem—we know exactly what it means.  But the fact is what you or I think about the Second Amendment is pretty meaningless, because it’s the Supreme Court’s interpretation that counts.

Modern times aching for liberal left

The thought of speaking out against the actions of a government that may have you killed or imprisoned without trial is petrifying. The war on terror that has defined our previous decade as a nation has wreaked havoc on our civil liberties, further destroyed our global reputation, and deceived a once respected political system.

Ethnic studies requirement constrictive

The Daily Cardinal recently reported that a roundtable dinner will be held by the Associated Students of Madison Diversity Committee to entertain the possibility of reforming the mandatory ethnic studies requirement.

Wisconsin’s proposed mining bill not a good deal for the state

Happy Friday, everyone. First off, thanks a bunch for not being too hungover to read the paper this morning. After all of the “hard work” and “thought” I put into these, it’s nice to have people read them. This one is about some new politics in the  controversial world here in Wisconsin. Months ago, a piece of legislation that would have brought changes to our mining laws was defeated in Wisconsin’s state legislature. The bill would have paved the way for a new iron mine in northern Wisconsin. Now, with a legislative majority, proponents of the bill are trying again. They say the mine would provide thousands of jobs in Wisconsin and serve as a great boost for the economy. Opponents say the bill guts governmental regulations and the mine would be devastating to the environment. I think these environmental concerns should be taken much more seriously by proponents of the bill.

David Clarke's aggressive endorsement

Every Friday, The Daily Cardinal’s Opinion Staff weighs in on a topic. This week, David Clarke, Milwaukee’s Sheriff, advised the citizenry of Milwaukee to arm themselves in order to protect themselves better in a publicly funded radio ad.

ASM may be too expansive to fully represent student body

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a special place for a million reasons: top notch academics, competitive and exciting athletics, inspiring professors et cetera et cetera. One of the most important, and perhaps the most unrecognized feature that makes UW-Madison so unique is the shared governance relationship between students and administrators. In fact, Wisconsin law dictates that students must be a part of the allocation of their segregated fees. The importance of student representation in important budget and educational decisions on campus cannot be undersold. Unfortunately, the structure of our student government has become bloated and inefficient and is in desperate need of a dramatic overhaul.

Political rhetoric overshadows the issues

Often times the rhetoric surrounding an issue becomes the issue itself. Emotional hang-ups and the ever-present argument of deeming something “unconstitutional” can overwhelm the issue at hand, and that can not only hinder solving that problem, it can also blow the problem out of proportion and then lead an effort to fix things that aren’t broken.

Israel ready for peace, waiting on Hamas

In 1917, when it became clear that Britain was to take temporary control of the land known as Palestine, which had previously been ruled over by the Ottoman Empire, British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur James Balfour immediately issued a statement in favor of the construction of a Jewish state, which had already been conceived of many decades beforehand.

Modern voters are looking for "more" from elected officials

With John Kerry being confirmed as the new secretary of state, Hillary Clinton is now able to manage her health, as well as possibly, a spot on the 2016 presidential ballot. As the former secretary of state has left her desk in positive standing, she is in the perfect position to go for the presidency. If this is the case, and if she were to win that election, then it will be clear America has entered a new age of politics, where the image of the politician is no longer that of the savior.

Wisconsin's extra $137 million should be invested wisely, not cut

Last week, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau released an estimate of Wisconsin’s budget surplus that exceeded preliminary estimates by $137 million. Gov. Scott Walker’s administration has announced that it plans to use the extra funding in order to give a tax break to Wisconsin families in a terribly unsurprising move. Considering the extreme budget cutting techniques done in the name of state debt, a tax rebate is hardly the innovative way of building tax base that Wisconsin needs.

Higher education neglected at great cost

Last year was a rough year for students at public universities, as state legislatures throughout the country continued to cut funding to their universities.  Nationwide, states underwent one of the largest divestments in higher education in American history, slashing funding by 7.6 percent.  And in 2011, for the second consecutive year, state and local funding to public universities reached a quarter-century low despite the fact that enrollment and the cost of educating students reached near-record highs.

Polling policies need more structure

During the last presidential election, multiple hour-long lines prevented an estimated 200,000 people in Florida from voting. For reference, that’s more than twice President Barack Obama’s margin of victory in the state.

An imaginary conversation with a gun control advocate

“Steven, no one needs an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle in their everyday lives. No one needs a 30 round magazine. That gun was used in the Aurora theater massacre, and Adam Lanza brought that gun to the scene of the crime at Sandy Hook. Hunters and collectors don’t need that kind of firepower. That gun is overkill for self-defense purposes,” my leftist friend said.